
The Sky Beneath Us
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Narrated by:
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Bronwen Price
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Mhairi Morrison
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By:
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Fiona Valpy
About this listen
An inspiring, uplifting story of love and loss, courage and adventure, from the bestselling author of The Skylark’s Secret.
1927. Violet Mackenzie-Grant is embarking on her dream of studying at the Edinburgh School of Gardening for Women. She doesn’t yet know that it’s a journey that will take her to Kathmandu and beyond, deep into captivating landscapes and cultures that are worlds away from everything and everyone she’s left behind in Scotland.
2020. Daisy Laverock has dreamed of retracing the footsteps of her great-great-aunt Violet ever since discovering her long-lost journals, whose accounts of plant hunting in the 1930s inspired Daisy’s own career. Divorced, and facing an empty nest, Daisy decides to embark on the trip of a lifetime. She arrives in Nepal, ready to start trekking in the shadow of Everest. But fate, and the pandemic, have other plans.
Stranded and alone, Daisy must fall back on the kindness of strangers, taking inspiration from Violet’s determination and resilience to keep going in the darkest of times. As she gradually pieces together the fragments of Violet’s story and uncovers long-held secrets, can Daisy finally reveal a path forward to her own future?
©2024 by Fiona Valpy. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“A gifted storyteller with a unique voice. This is a beautifully written, uplifting, moving and evocative story that will stay with you! I loved it so much, I didn’t want it to end!” —Santa Montefiore
“An immersive and moving story which will stay with me for a long time. Such a compelling sense of place and beautifully drawn characters, I savored every moment.” —Freya North
“What an exquisite and unforgettable journey! I loved every shaky step, breathtaking vista, minute discovery and unexpected adventure in Katmandu, Edinburgh, Phortse and the north-west Highlands of Scotland with Daisy and her great-great-aunt Violet. Theirs are inspirational stories of love and hope lost and found as they courageously ascend paths unknown and welcome the unexpected. Meticulously researched and beautifully written with fascinating detail about botany, the Sherpa people and Nepal. As deeply satisfying as a clear view of a flower-filled valley from a mountain top.” —Penny Haw, author of Follow Me to Africa
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Story
Morocco, 1941. With France having fallen to Nazi occupation, twelve-year-old Josie has fled with her family to Casablanca, where they await safe passage to America. Life here is as intense as the sun, every sight, smell and sound overwhelming to the senses in a city filled with extraordinary characters. It’s a world away from the trouble back home—and Josie loves it. Seventy years later, another new arrival in the intoxicating port city, Zoe, is struggling—with her marriage, her baby daughter and her new life as an expat in an unfamiliar place.
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Sweet and profound
- By EYM on 11-15-21
By: Fiona Valpy
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The Cypress Maze
- By: Fiona Valpy
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire, Ruth Redman
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Tuscany, 1943. Stranded in war-ravaged Italy, Beatrice’s dream of an escapist year teaching English is shattered. Granted shelter at the Villa delle Colombe, she seeks refuge in Francesca and Edoardo’s beautiful walled garden, hidden from the outside world, with an elaborate cypress maze at its heart. But Beatrice is not the only one seeking an escape here. Francesca has brought children to the safety of the house, as well as other adults, all of them seeking sanctuary on the estate with its mysterious maze.
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A full box of tissue needed by me.
- By Cyn ND on 10-31-23
By: Fiona Valpy
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The Autumn of Ruth Winters
- A Novel
- By: Marshall Fine
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Ruth Winters is retired, widowed, and resigned to spending the rest of her life alone in her suburban home. She likes her routine and uses it to avoid having to spend time with other people. She probably wouldn’t call herself fulfilled, but it’s too late now to go chasing happiness. Then three things happen at once: a beloved niece makes a big announcement, an old flame reaches out, and her estranged sister receives life-changing news.
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Ruth was a realistic character with relatable feelings.
- By Happy customer on 02-02-25
By: Marshall Fine
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The French for Love
- By: Fiona Valpy
- Narrated by: Esther Wane
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Gina has lost her perfect job, her boyfriend, and her favorite aunt all within the space of a few months. So when she inherits her aunt's ramshackle French house, Gina decides to pack her bags for the Bordeaux countryside - swapping English weather for blue skies, sunshine, great wine, and a fresh start. What she hasn't factored in is a hole in the roof, the most embarrassing language faux pas, and discovering family secrets she was never supposed to know.
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Love is Love
- By Darlene Timmons on 03-16-20
By: Fiona Valpy
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A Borrowed Path
- By: Imogen Clark
- Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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When Eve returns to her family home Fox House, the tension with her mother, Agatha, is palpable. But when Eve’s daughter, Lyra, and her granddaughter, Skye, arrive unexpectedly, four generations of women under one roof set the stage for explosive revelations. Lyra seems troubled, but refuses to explain why. And when she lays claim to the crumbling cottage on the estate, Agatha drops a bombshell – she’s already promised it to a mysterious man named Dylan.
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Enjoyed the book
- By Mya Edwards on 03-09-25
By: Imogen Clark
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The Lost Letters of Aisling
- A Novel
- By: Cynthia Ellingsen
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon, Stephanie Cannon
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Rainey’s grandmother makes a startling request: Take me home. To Ireland, the country she fled post-World War II. Though they’re inseparably close, Rainey knows few of her grandmother’s secrets. Until they arrive at Aisling—the majestic estate on the southern coast of Ireland where her grandmother was raised—and Rainey discovers a collection of seventy-year-old letters in a trunk.
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Ended very abruptly
- By Jade Palmer on 05-22-24
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The Paris Escape
- A Novel
- By: James Tucker
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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When Laura Powell and Henry Salter travel to Paris in 1938, neither considers the other very good company. Laura is a shallow, spoiled heir to a fortune, and Henry an opportunistic bore—or so they think. But as her father’s protégé, Henry is tasked with accompanying Laura for her safety, even as she continues to scorn him. Orphaned stowaway David forces the pair to see eye to eye. They can ignore their growing feelings, but they can’t deny the boy’s need for protection. Yet even with this tentative truce, their problems are far from over.
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Not a historical novel
- By Lisa G on 02-14-25
By: James Tucker
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When We Chased the Light
- A Novel
- By: Emily Bleeker
- Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Christie’s auction house, Beverly Hills. The effects of Hollywood icon Vivian Snow are up for bid. In the collection is a set of hand-drawn postcards spanning six decades. The sender is Antonio Trombello, a soldier, POW, priest, and Vivian’s confidant. Each postcard sheds new light on a deeply private woman the public only thinks it knows.
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The narrator really ruined this book
- By BeesKnees on 04-22-25
By: Emily Bleeker
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Life, Loss, and Puffins
- A Novel
- By: Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Narrated by: Jess Nahikian
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Freakishly smart. That’s the unwelcome box Ru Evans is put into for life. After all, she taught herself Euclidean geometry at age seven, has an eidetic memory, and is about to enter college at thirteen years old. Boarding at a house near campus 150 miles from home, Ru meets seventeen-year-old Gabriel, an outsider himself who, like Ru, has trouble making friends—until they form a fast sibling-like bond. Finding a relatable someone in the world to talk to is a first for both of them.
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Took a bit, but I got there
- By An Amazon Customer on 09-29-24
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The Whisper Sister
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer S. Brown
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The streets of New York in 1920 are most certainly not paved with gold, as Minnie Soffer learns when she arrives at Ellis Island. Her father, who left Ukraine when Minnie was a toddler, feels like a stranger. She sleeps on a mattress on the kitchen floor. She understands nothing at school. They came to America for this? As her family adjusts to this new life, Minnie and her brother work hard to learn English and make friends. When her father, Ike, opens his own soda shop, stability and citizenship seem within reach.
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The whisper sister sent me
- By Christina E. on 10-30-24
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In the Midnight Rain
- A Novel
- By: Barbara O'Neal
- Narrated by: Kristen Ariza
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Biographer Ellie Connor is in Gideon, Texas, to research blues singer Mabel Beauvais who, on the verge of fame, mysteriously disappeared more than forty years ago. Gideon holds another mystery for Ellie. It’s the truth about her parents—a restless mother who died young and a father she never knew. They are an unsettled piece of Ellie’s own past. Somewhere in this town is the answer to both of her quests.
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Good story
- By Carolyn on 07-16-23
By: Barbara O'Neal
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The Berlin Sisters
- By: Soraya M. Lane
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Berlin, 1943: Ava Müller is a proud supporter of the German war effort, working for Joseph Goebbels alongside her father, a high-ranking official in the Reich. With her sister Hanna, a nurse, braving bombing raids to save lives, they are a model Nazi family. Until Ava discovers her parents and Hanna are secretly working for the resistance… Returning to their country home, Ava is shocked to find her childhood friend Eliana Goldman and her family hidden in the attic.
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Great story
- By blaise bennett on 11-10-24
By: Soraya M. Lane
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The Last Secret of Lily Adams
- A Novel
- By: Sara Blaydes
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett, Soneela Nankani
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the brightest stars of Hollywood’s golden age was Lily Adams, the beloved picture of all-American innocence. Why she suddenly vanished from the spotlight was a mystery even to those closest to her. Upon Lily’s death seventy years later, her granddaughter, Carolyn Prior, struggles to understand a woman she loved but never really knew. Then, sifting through the memorabilia of a once-glamorous career, Carolyn comes across a letter from her grandmother.
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Great first book
- By Kurtis Montgomery on 09-11-24
By: Sara Blaydes
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Memories of the Lost
- A Novel
- By: Barbara O'Neal
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Months after her mother passes away, artist Tillie Morrisey sees a painting in a gallery that leaves her inexplicably lightheaded and unsteady. When a handsome stranger comes to her aid, their connection is so immediate it seems fated, though Liam is only visiting for a few days. Working on her own art has always been a refuge, but after discovering a document among her mother’s belongings that suggests Tillie’s life has been a lie, she begins to suffer from a series of fugue states, with memories surfacing that she isn’t even sure are her own.
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Fun mystery wrapped in a love story
- By sweeterindawn on 10-14-24
By: Barbara O'Neal
What listeners say about The Sky Beneath Us
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- js david
- 03-21-25
Lovely story
The story is wonderful and inspirational. You can feel the emotion coming out of the readers voice. It seems to crescendo about 2/3ds of the way then just keeps up. The descriptions of the Himalaya, the Sherpa people, and the family interactions was incredible. The only negative aspect of the performance was the Daisy character's voice. The cadence was incredibly annoying and I almost stopped listening. Luckily all of the other characters had nice voices and were pleasant to hear.
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- Claude Cutrell
- 01-15-25
well researched story
warm story of hope and challenges faced by a likable heroine. A book that made me want to visit Nepal.
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- Landart
- 03-23-25
Plant collecting in Nepal
I love gardening, so I really enjoyed this book. I found the descriptions of early plant collecting interesting. The dual time line was great!
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-23-25
Remarkable synchronization
Finally, a romance without the gag worthy traits in so many novels. Granted, the romance aspect is light, but interwoven throughout the story. Another huge factor in enjoying this novel is the narration; finally, all the voices enabled me to listen to the story rather than being distracted by screetchy, whiney or ineffective male/female sounding characters. Some narrators can’t do both sexes without distracting from the story- when a reader ‘hears’ a voice- it’s just right - including accents.
The story pulled me in at the airport; laying out a snippet of a backdrop and promising story ahead. And of course, there isn’t anyone who can’t relate to problems and/or tragedies. I wondered how it would weave in and the author does a grand job of that without spoiling the overall plot.
Violets family, being upper crust show their colors right away as does Violet- struggling as a young women troubled by the constraints of her culture and her desires to be true to herself. Strong-willed and intelligent, the classes for women at botanical schools impel her forward into a future she never dreamed possible for herself.
I like how the story develops a twist from her on. The culture in Nepal and the botanical connection was a surprise for me which kept me interested.
I also love how F. Valpy ties it all together at the end - or is it a commencement?
I even listened to all the credits. I recommend any of Fiona Valpys’ novels.
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- JAMIE VAUGHN
- 04-23-25
Liked the story line, the beautiful setting and characters.
I couldn’t get past the narration for Daisy. It sounded very halted and choppy. Violet’s narration was fine, though.
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- Joanna Scarborough
- 01-07-25
Strange cadence from narrator
I absolutely fell in love with the story and was so sad to see it end. I'd say it's probably my favorite Fiona Valpy book. I had a problem with the main narrator though, her cadence seemed off and there were some weird pauses. I had to speed up the narration to make it more bearable. She sounded robotic at some points.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Brigitta
- 03-04-25
Boring
Stuck with it because audible refused to let me return it which is very irritating
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- Countrymouse
- 04-06-25
Painful
The story was ok. However, I am sorry to say I was so jaw droppingly annoyed by the voice of the Daisy character that, if it wasn't a book club read, I would have stopped listening to it and I normally LOVE listening to a Scottish accent!
I tried speeding Daisy's parts up to 1.25x speed and that helped a bit but became too annoying to flip back and forth when Violet was speaking.
I also didn't think COVID brought anything to the story overall. Honestly, I would have been fine JUST having Violet's story. It was interesting enough on its own.
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